A peer-reviewed, evidence-based journal for clinicians in the field of neuroscience
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[ V O L U M E 1 2 , N U M B E R 7 – 8 , J U L Y – A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 ] Innovations in CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE 23 percentage of the scores ranging from 0 to 5 were calculated. Data are shown in Table 1. Mean scores ranged from 1.03 to 2.31. Globally, the highest mean scores were found for Item 11 ("should" statements), Item 14 ("what if..."), and Item 8 ("mind reading"), all of which were also found to have the highest scores, as expected. The internal consistency of the CD-Quest was calculated separately for both subscales, frequency, and intensity, and for the total scale. The Cronbach's alpha values were 0.91, 0.89, and 0.85, respectively. These values are indicative of good internal consistency. The item-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.47 to 0.76 for the frequency subscale, 0.46 to 0.71 for the intensity subscale, and 0.45 to 0.70 for the total scale. Regarding the total scale, the highest correlation was for Item 15 ("unfair comparisons") and the lowest correlation was for Item 4 ("emotional reasoning"). For any of the subscales and the total scale, there are no items that could increase the Cronbach's alpha if they were deleted. Concurrent validity. Concurrent validity was studied by determining the correlation between the total scores and subscales scores of the CD-Quest, as well as the BAI, and BDI scales, values of which are presented in Table 2. All correlations between the CD- Quest, its subscales, and the clinical self-report inventories were significant (p<0.01). Correlations between the CD-Quest subscales and BDI ranged from 0.59 to 0.65, the highest correlation observed, indicating a convergence between cognitive distortions and depressive symptoms, as well as the validity of CD-Quest construct. Similarly, a convergence between the CD-Quest and BAI was observed, correlations of which were considered moderate. Discriminant validity. The CD- Quest total scale mean score was 22.59 (SD=11.86). Frequency subscale mean score was 15.17 (SD=7.43), and intensity subscale mean score was 17.44 (SD=8.04). Table 3 shows the CD-Quest total scores distribution according to percentiles, allowing classification of cognitive distortions as absent/minimal, slight, moderate and severe. Subjects were separated in two subgroups according to the BDI scores: those indicating depressive symptoms (BDI≥12) and those without depressive symptoms (BDI<12). For each subgroup, CD- Quest mean scores and SDs (total scale, frequency subscale, and intensity subscale) were calculated. TABLE 1. Distribution of CD-Quest items according to mean scores, SD, and percentage of scores 0–5 in a sample of university students (N=184) C D-QUEST ITEMS M EAN S D SCORES, % 0 1 2 3 4 5 1. Dichotomous thinking 1.55 -1.3 26 27 22 17 6 2 2. Fortune telling 1.49 -1.32 32 24 22 15 8 1 3. Discounting positives 1.06 -1.29 49 24 13 11 4 2 4. Emotional reasoning 1.52 -1.37 30 24 23 14 6 3 5. Labeling 1.51 -1.35 32 26 21 16 5 3 6. Magnification/minimization 1.19 -1.3 51 25 16 13 3 2 7. Selective abstraction 1.45 -1.37 36 19 23 14 9 1 8. Mind reading 2.11 -1.37 13 24 26 21 11 5 9. Overgeneralization 1.09 -1.4 51 17 14 10 5 3 10. Personalizing 1.03 -1.25 47 29 12 9 3 2 11. Should statements 2.31 -1.5 15 16 23 22 16 8 12. Jump to conclusions 1.44 -1.36 32 26 20 12 6 3 13. Blaming 1.07 -1.38 51 19 15 9 4 3 14. What if... 2.16 -1.6 20 18 21 19 13 10 15. Unfair comparisons 1.63 -1.5 32 19 19 17 9 4 Total score 22.59 -11.86 - - - - - - SD: standard-deviation